'Just a couple of black eyes, maybe a cracked rib. Nothing you didn't get on the Rugby field.'

You know, those tapes, the tapes from 1990 that seem to suggest that the current Mayor of London is willing to break the law in order to help Darius Guppy (Darius. Guppy), his chum from Eton and Oxford, arrange an assault on a journalist who had got his blood up.

Dispatches has excerpts. Go, listen to them. Listen to the current Mayor of London offer to give Guppy that journalist's number. Listen to the current Mayor try to ascertain just how badly his friend is going to beat this guy up.

7 comments:

Not really a cause for celebration. I hate the guy more than most, but I doubt he will be removed as a result of these tapes (that towel is indeed well placed, Laurie). All that will happen is that these allegations will hang around him until 2016 when he is beaten by the Labour candidate after having cruised to victory in 2012; us Londoners will by and large either know about this incident or not care; either way, we won't do anything about it. The people that hate Boris will lose even more faith in the political system, and the ones that voted for him will either not give a toss or find spurious reasons to explain it away (usually with reference to Ken's various allegations of corruption).

I can't beleive the number of people I speak to who think he's just a bit 'out there cool' and 'eccentric', yet not only is he utterly out of his depth in managing London (you only have to watch his bumbling performances within the London Assembly Mayoral questions to see that), but I don't think you can trust a word he says or promises :/

It doesn't exactly prove anything though, does it? He sounds to me like he's just being polite and humouring the chap.

Though I don't know why anyone is actually surprised that Boris Johnson is a total duffer. It's not like we didn't know that before he was Mayor. I couldn't believe people had been stupid enough to vote him in, but that's democracy for you. The people of London have the Mayor they deserve. Well, the majority of the voting populace, that is.

Although, ps, Boris Johnson does make me think that being negligent or incompetent in public office should be a criminal offence. He really doesn't give a hoot about Londoners, or doing a good job, and he really ought.

I think the tapes show something we've always known about poor old Boris Johnson, namely that he has always lived his life under somebody else's thumb. He is absolutely hopeless as the Mayor of our England's capital city and epitomizes everything that is bad about the Tories, e.g., favouring friends and doing dodgy deals on the quiet without transparency or consultation.

Surely his incompetence has to be good news for the Labour Party as an indication of the shape of things to come under Cameron?

Penny Red is...

Laurie Penny, 25, journalist, author, feminist, socialist, utopian, general reprobate and troublemaker. Lives in a little hovel room somewhere in London, mainly eating toast and trying to set the world to rights. Drinks too much tea. Has still not managed to quit smoking. Regular writer for New Statesman, The Guardian and The Independent. Author of Meat Market (Zer0 Books, April 2011) and Penny Red (Pluto Press, October 2011).

Comments Policy

All abusive, sexist, racist, xenophobic, ablist, transphobic or otherwise hateful and prattish comments will be deleted as and when I see fit. If you've got a point to make, there's no harm in manners. Thanks.